


After the Game

by chinajousama



Category: Subarashiki Kono Sekai | The World Ends With You
Genre: Cross-Posted on Tumblr, F/F, Femslash February 2016, Love Confessions, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-18
Updated: 2019-06-18
Packaged: 2020-05-14 07:49:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19268890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chinajousama/pseuds/chinajousama
Summary: After the Long Game, Shiki meets up with Eri for a much needed talk.(Written for Femslash February 2016, Week 2 - Beyond the Sea: First Date/Love Confessions)





	After the Game

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written 19th Feb, 2016.
> 
> Not proofread beyond the initial upload three years ago. Never got around to cross-posting it but figured Pride Month was as good a time as any.

Shiki settled into the booth of the café, her plush cat companion, Mr. Mew, seated next to her as she began to nibble at the biscuit that came with her hot chocolate. She looked out the glass window front, searching the busy Scramble Crossing for any sight of her friend.

 _Looks like Sheep Heavenly is getting popular again._  She noted absent-mindedly.

The Reaper’s Game, for all its drawbacks, had helped her develop a better awareness for the emergence of trends in Shibuya. Some days, she could almost feel the new outfits come to life on the street, and she knows this is a side effect of her time in the UG. It wasn’t nearly as strong as Neku’s abilities, but she was content with that. She was grateful to the Game for her new outlook on life, but as a designer the idea of staying entrenched in Shibuya, like Neku and Beat seemed content with, rankled.

 _Bzzzt_.

Her phone vibrated, screen lighting up with the photo of the two of them from before all of this happened.

_[Hey, I’m going to be a bit late. Give me five minutes, okay?]_

_[Sure, I’ll wait. Be safe.]_

Hesitating, she deleted the last two words before sending the message and set the phone down again.

It had been a week. They were supposed to be meeting up with Neku, Beat and Rhyme at the Hachiko statue anyway, but Shiki needed to talk to Eri in private before that. That was why she had told Eri to meet her at the café a whole two hours beforehand. Eri had been surprised that  _she_  had been the one suggesting they go out, but had agreed readily. After their argument, Shiki had noticed that Eri had made an effort to not broach anything related to those tumultuous months.

She appreciated the care that Eri had shown her but she was stronger now, more secure in herself and her appearance. Her hot chocolate misted her glasses as she took a drink, obscuring her vision temporarily.

“Shiki! I wasn’t too late, was I?”

The cheerful voice caused her to jump in surprise. She hastily dropped her cup to the table, grateful for the luck that ensured her drink hadn’t spilt onto her or the table. Rubbing at her glasses with her green sleeve, she looked up to see Eri sliding into the booth seat opposite to her.

“E-Eri!” Shiki squeaked, mind racing. Her mind automatically took in the cute outfit her friend was wearing, even as her heart skipped a beat and she felt her face flush.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you,” Eri giggles, red hair falling around her as she leaned forward eagerly. “So. What did you want to talk about? Going to tell me about those friends of yours?”

Shiki laughed sheepishly at Eri’s teasing tone, gripping onto the hot chocolate as she broached the subject.

“Actually, I kind of… want to talk about… us.” Shiki confessed, looking down into her hot chocolate. The smile dropped off Eri’s face to be replaced with a small frown.

“About… us?”

“Yeah. I noticed that you’ve been avoiding the topic but I think we need to talk. About our argument before I, you know…”

A pair of manicured hands covered Shiki’s hands as Eri shifted forward as best as she could with the booth’s table between them. It was only then that Shiki realised her hands had been trembling as they rested next to her beverage.

“It’s okay. I shouldn’t have said what I did. Your accident made me realise how badly I messed up.” Eri’s grip on Shiki’s hands tightened further as rushed to get her words out.

“T-That’s not it!” Shiki blurted out, eyes widening in panic as she met Eri’s gaze. “Well, that’s partially it… but I was in the wrong too!”

It was as if a dam had broken inside her. The words poured out as she looked down on their clasped hands.

“I was jealous of how you were always better than me. You had the looks, the smarts, the friends! A-and your designs! They were always so wonderful and pretty… I felt honoured to be the one making them reality. But instead of believing that you saw me as a friend, and that trusting that you weren’t just using or humouring me, I convinced myself that I wasn’t appreciated, that I was boring and inadequate. I ended up hating myself, hating how boring and plain I was compared to you.”

Shiki began feeling light-headed as she spoke, an odd ringing starting in her ears as she paused to catch her breath. She knew her face was probably red with the shame of recalling her past misconceptions and tears were threatening to spill behind her frames.

“Sh-Shiki, you know that’s not true, right?” Shiki blinked rapidly as she nodded quickly, not liking the worry that tinged Eri’s voice.

“I do now. That’s how I met Neku. Helping him made me realise that I was pretty special in my own way.” Shiki did her best to smile reassuringly at Eri. “I found out that I was pretty powerful in my own right, and that there was no way that you would ever mean the words I thought you did.”

“Shiki…” Eri breathed out softly, letting go of Shiki’s hands to walk around to her side of the booth, sliding into Shiki’s booth seat and crushing Mr. Mew between them in the process. “Shiki, I’m so sorry that I made you feel that way. If there was any way for me to make it up to you…”

Shiki hesitated briefly before throwing her arms around Eri in return.

“You’ve done more than enough, just by being with me.” Shiki whispered softly. When the hug began to get uncomfortable due to poor Mr. Mew squished between them, she pulled away to face Eri again.

“There’s also one other thing.” Shiki rushed out. “I- I wanted to tell you that, I realised something else about myself during that time.”

“Hmm?” Eri tilted her head curiously as she made a prompting noise.

“I-I think that I might also have feelings for you?” Shiki bit her lip as she shifted backwards along the booth seat to put some distance between them again, scooping Mr. Mew back into her arms.

“As in, romantic feelings.” Eri stated, eyes calculating. Shiki nodded, face definitely red now.

“In that case, when you introduce me to this Neku person, you better call me your girlfriend.” Eri pointed a finger at her threateningly. “I won’t accept anything less.”

Shiki felt light-headed again, but this time, in a completely different way. She placed Mr. Mew behind her to kiss Eri with a relieved giggle.

“It’s a deal.”


End file.
